Beech Tree News Network

The Butler County Fiscal Court met in a called session on Monday, February 22, at 4:00 p.m. to discuss the 911 funding shortfall.  All magistrates were in attendance.  Don Sullivan, Mark Hood, Pat Daugherty, and Bill Sweatt, members of the Butler County Ambulance Board, were also in attendance.  County Attorney Dick Deye stated that he had spoken with the county attorney of Kenton County concerning 911 funding.  Kenton County, as well as many counties in Kentucky, are facing similar funding shortfalls. Deye had hoped to provide some information from Kenton County but has been unable to obtain the information yet.
According to Don Sullivan, as of June 30, 2015, the 911 Dispatch had a shortfall of $123,143.  The shortfall has been created due to the decrease in landline phones in the county and increases in operating expenses.
“In 2009 Butler County had 4,119 landlines; in 2015 we had 2,473,” said Sullivan.
The ambulance board has asked Fiscal Court to increase the landline fee from $2.00 to $4.00 to help with some of the shortfall.  In 1994 the fee was set at $1 per line; that was increased to $2 per line in 2003.
According to members of the ambulance board, the total operating budget for the 911 Dispatch is $286,000 - of that $150,456 are salaries.  Included in the salaries are four (4) full-time dispatchers, some part-time dispatchers, one-fourth of the EMS Director’s salary, and one-fourth of the secretary’s salary.
When asked how the city of Morgantown contributes to the 911 Dispatch, Mark Hood stated, “They (the city) pays the insurance on our building and leases the building to us for $1 per year - a building they were renting for $1,600 per month.”  
Carlos Raymer, spoke to the court, stating that he was against any type of additional burden on the taxpayers.  “People in this county are working for anywhere between $8 to $12 an hour; they can’t afford more taxes or fees," said Raymer.  "It is a management issue; you have to make cuts when you don’t have enough money.”
Mark Hood answered, “If there was a way to cut expenses we would have.”
No decision was made by the court.  They adjourn and moved to the regular monthly meeting.
The first item on the agenda of the court's regular meeting was 911 Funding.  Third District Magistrate Chad Tyree made a motion to increase land line phone fee by $2.00 for the next two years.  The motion failed due to lack of a second.  Next, First District Magistrate Steve Givens made a motion to increase the landline phone fee by $1.00 with Fiscal Court to provide $15,000 to 911 funding. This motion also failed due to the lack of a second. No action was taken concerning 911 funding.

The court approved the following by a 5-0 vote:
 - An amendment to Interlocal Agreement Workforce Investment Board for Fiscal Court records.
 - Purchase of three snow plows at $500 each and one gas heater at $75 from Kentucky State Surplus Property
 - Second reading and adoption of Budget Amendment 2015-2016
 - Monthly transfer of $40,000 from General Fund to Jail Fund
 - Rehiring of seasonal employee, Randy Grubb, at $12.47 per hour starting March 7th
 - Monthly Treasurer’s Report
 - Bills and Transfers

Prior to adjourning, Magistrate Givens recommended bringing Hidden Valley Golf Course Road into the county road system.  Second District Magistrate Johnny Tuck recommended the Eric Young Road to be considered for inclusion into the county road system as well. County Attorney Dick Deye addressed the court concerning some updates to the requirements for bringing a road into the county system.  Both Deye and Magistrate Tyree have been researching road requirements that will be presented at the next Fiscal Court meeting.  The court agreed to wait until the road requirements were updated to consider the additional roads. No action was taken by the court.